“These suggest a small body size. Marilyn Monroe would be a very good female example.”

He added women appeared to look for a partner who was physically large but not aggressive.

“It makes sense that females don’t like a male who is totally aggressive,” he said. “The pitch indicates masculinity.

“However, breathiness, which is not associated with being large, moderates the aggressiveness.”

The research, which involved playing men and women taped voices from the opposite sex, has now been published in journal PLOS One.

Previous studies have found people subconsciously lower their voices when trying to woo attractive members of the opposite sex.

A 2010 study, by Albright College in Pennsylvannia, US, showed both men and women lower the pitch of the their voice when they want to signal that they are attracted to another person, researchers found.

The findings dispel the idea that women adopt a higher, more feminine tone when they find a man attractive, like the stereotype damsel in distress.

Instead, they are more likely to put on a husky voice such as that of the television presenter Mariella Frostrup or the actress Joanna Lumley.

Researchers said the ploy is of particular use when talking over the phone, or even in voicemail messages, where non- visual and non-verbal forms of flirting - such as fluttering eyelashes and wry smiles - will not work.